Increased levels of leakage, poor maintenance of buried pipe networks, frequent complaints from customers, and revenue recovery are some of the biggest challenges associated with water utilities. The majority of these issues can be effectively addressed if you are aware of how to address the problems related to the various components of non-revenue water (NRW).
Non-revenue water (NRW) can be explained as a type of water is captured, treated and pumped around a water distribution network; however the water utility never receives any payment for this water as it is lost before it reaches a customer water meter. This water loss can be the result of either leakage from pipelines or overflow at reservoirs (real losses), the theft of water, erroneous metering (apparent losses), or other use for which the utility doesn’t receive payment (for instance, for firefighting).
Research suggests that more than USD $14 billion is lost annually by water utilities across the globe due to NRW. It is recommended that NRW should generally be below 25 percent of the total water production, however a number of countries have levels of NRW that exceed 60 percent. Greater levels of NRW are detrimental to the financial viability of the water utility and gives an additional burden on paying customers who are funding the operational expense of water lost in the network.
Water utilities have significant costs related to the capture, treatment and pumping of water, and when water is lost from ageing or poorly maintained water networks that is revenue that is lost. But it’s not only about the financial impact caused by NRW. One of the many studies evaluates that the per annum volume of physical water losses is nearly up to 32 billion cubic meters, half of which accounted for by developing countries.
Benefits of control and reduction of non-revenue water
The benefits of hiring the services of Non revenue water reduction sydney are many and usually interlinked. NRW provides an opportunity costs for utilities, cities, the environment, and the greater economy. For water utilities, it is obvious that a reduction in NRW will certainly produce attractive outcomes such as:
- Improved water services and a significant increase in customer satisfaction
- Delayed water development costs (i.e.: new water sources such as desalination)
- Reduction in energy needs by not having to pump water that is subsequently lost in the network
- A reduction in OPEX and CAPEX
- Improvement in revenues from water charges
- Improved creditworthiness allowing greater investment into ageing networks
Managing non-revenue water
One of the ways of administering non-revenue water is by utilising hydraulic models. Hydraulic models recognise crucial parts of the system and optimise pressure control by including an active and cost-effective leakage management system. Rearranging the pipe system, the models assist to acknowledge pipe breaks and leaks and revamp pressure control for effective leakage reduction.
Successful and lasting management of leakage levels needs an advanced system with trustworthy data. While considering non-revenue water solutions, you should certainly ask a number of questions that include:
- Does the solution allow association with all different departments such as network operators, water utility managers, and operating staff?
- Does the solution enable the monitoring of water flow in comparatively smaller parts of the distribution network, to provide an idea of the actual losses? (i.e.: DMAs or Virtual DMAs)
- Will there be consolidation of data from different platforms like SCADA, GIS, invoicing, and metering into a modular smart water platform such as GoAigua?
- How user-friendly and automated the process is? For instance, will the system run every analysis on its own and prepare results at a chosen time interval and simply prover operators with insights?
Utilising NRW reduction Australia certainly helps to optimise and decrease operational costs, in addition, to improve reliability regarding the water supply. Among a number of other benefits, a well thought out plan also helps to optimise the usage of the existing supply system and water resources, decrease legal liability and insurance cost due to the lesser main breaks and recognize illegal connections and malfunctioning or missing meters in the system. All these components assist with water loss reduction and better water loss management in Australia and New Zealand.
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